Icelandic Group has signed an agreement to sell its Belgian subsidiary Gadus to Iceland based company Steinasalir.

Steinasalir is owned by established Icelandic seafood companies, including Saemark Seafood, Fishproducts Iceland, and Akur, an Icelandic based private equity fund.

The Gadus sales process was announced by the board of Icelandic Group last January, and "received significant interest from multiple parties."

Íslandsbanki Corporate Finance acted as the advisor to Icelandic Group while Deloitte represented Steinasalir.

The buyers aim to further promote sales and marketing of seafood in Belgium and central Europe, Icelandic Group said in a statement.

Icelandic Group described Gadus as "a leading processing, sales and distribution company for fresh fish products."

Key species are salmon and cod, sold to retailers and cash and carry chains in Belgium. Gadus handles and produces around 7.000 metric tons of products annually and employs around 130 people.

“Icelandic Group acquired Gadus in 2012 with the primary aim of opening up a new market area for Icelandic seafood products," said Herdís Dröfn Fjeldsted, chairman of the board of Icelandic Group and CEO of the Enterprise Investment Fund, Icelandic's owner.

"Direct ownership of Icelandic seafood companies in Gadus is a very positive step, providing further opportunities to promote the image and value of Icelandic seafood in central Europe. We congratulate Steinasalir on the acquisition”

Sigurdur Gísli Björnsson, CEO of Saemark Seafood, called Gadus "a very exciting investment opportunity to grow internationally.

"A key aim for us is to ensure that the Icelandic seafood industry continues to possess a whole value chain from catch to consumer," he said. "Direct access to consumer markets is an important component to maximize the value of Iceland´s resources.”

The Belgian fish processing company was acquired by Icelandic Group in 2012. Gadus’s revenues totaled approximately €83 million ($87.7 million) in 2016, Icelandic previously stated.

The Gadus sale follows the sale of Ny-Fiskur to Nesfiskur in December last year, and the sale of Icelandic Iberica to Solo Seafood in September.

The Iceland Enterprise Investment Fund (EIF) -- which was set up after the Icelandic financial crash to create a safe haven for Icelandic companies -- plans to divest all its businesses by 2019.

Over the last few years, the fund has already been slowly divesting -- it exited Icelandic’s Asian business at the end of 2015.

After the Gadus sale the only remaining part of Icelandic Group is the UK business Seachill.

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